Investigators Address Neuroethics at Neuroscience 2019 Meeting in Chicago
More than 27,000 attendees from 13 countries descended into McCormick Place in Chicago for the 2019 Society for Neuroscience meeting. There were lectures, symposiums, roundtables and press events during the seven-day conference. For an event that is typically heavily focused on hard science, there were several areas of emphasis for the role neuroscience plays in society. A symposium dedicated to high density neural recordings highlighted innovations in interface electrodes and probes.
New Neurotech Initiatives Boost SCI Market Potential
The neurotech market for treating paralysis caused a major step forward this month with two significant announcements, one in the commercial arena and another involving funding. On the commercial side, GTX medical BV, the European firm spun off from the research of Gregoire Courtine at EPFL, announced it has merged with NeuroRecovery Technologies, the Los Angeles firm spun off from Reggie Edgerton’s research at UCLA.
Josh Makower and Robert Knight to Keynote 2019 Neurotech Leaders Forum in San Francisco
Neurotech Reports, the publisher of this newsletter, reported that Josh Makower, general partner at VC firm New Enterprise Associates, will keynote on the first day of 2019 Neurotech Leaders Forum in San Francisco, November 4-5. Makower is cofounder of the Stanford Byers Biodesign Center and also founder and executive chairman of ExploraMed, a medical device incubator that has created eight companies over the past 20 years.
Enduring Our Pain
October has been a busy month for clinicians, researchers, and commercial vendors involved with neuromodulation for chronic pain. Clinical societies, conference organizers, regulators, and funding organizations have all recognized the importance of developing alternatives to opioids for treating pain. Since we first sounded the alarm in this space five years ago [NBR Sep14 p2], the public has come to realize that the apparent cost benefit that pharmaceuticals had over device interventions was a cruel hoax at best.
NANS Plans Emerging Technology Forum at 2020 Meeting
The North American Neuromodulation Society recently announced that it will launch an Emerging Technology Forum on January 23, 2020 just prior to the NANS 2020 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, NV. The Forum is designed to provide an interactive and dynamic platform for startup and emerging neuromodulation firms. This event will also showcase new and innovative companies in the space. The theme of the NANS 2020 Annual Meeting is Driving Innovation through Science and Evidence .
Funding for Neurotech Research Continues to Grow
Neurotech firms and research institutions can look forward to increasing levels of government funding in the years ahead. Much of that support will come from several DARPA programs targeting neurotechnology. The NIH recently announced it has awarded $945 million in FY 2019 through the HEAL initiative, which will help fund new neuromodulation therapies for treating chronic pain and opioid abuse. Ano…
Ghosts of Neurotech Past
In the 19 years that we’ve been publishing Neurotech Business Report, we’ve witnessed a number of changes. One of the most notable differences in the neurotech industry of today compared to the field back then is the level of invasiveness required to obtain meaningful neural signals from the brain and the neuromuscular system. As we report in our article on page 1 of this issue, steady advances in…
New Approaches Emerge for Treating Obesity
Two new neuromodulation approaches for treating obesity have emerged in recent months, one using closed-loop implanted brain stimulation and the other using noninvasive stimulation paired with genomics. The new therapeutic strategies add to the list of previous neuromodulation efforts, which include VNS, gastric stimulation, DBS, and TMS. Earlier this month, NeuroPace announced that they will use t…
July 2019 issue
Three key U.S. universities with active neural engineering programs are banding together to help advance commercialization of neurotechnology. The new IEEE Brain Initiative is sowing the seeds of commercialization and entrepreneurship by launching a unique workshop designed to help graduate neuroscience and neural engineering trainees approach their research with an eye toward commercialization. Th…
Valuing the Patient
Earlier this year, the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health launched the Patient and Caregiver Connection Program in an effort to gain a better understanding of end users’ perspectives. There have been similar efforts such as Faster Cures, a watchdog of the 21st Century Cures Act, or the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, which funds patient-centered research. These initiatives are welcome additions to the medical device landscape.